Roast chicken, spinning, and yarn chicken

This is why I'm staying indoors, not even a brief round trip to the mailbox today.

Sunny, yesterday's cruel wind which kept the house cold has abated now, after felling trees, but it's not a good idea for me to be out.

Meanwhile I'm about to roast a plump little Misfits free-range chicken who had a brief life but a merry one, if the farmer is to be believed.  I literally thanked her as I seasoned and buttered.  First whole chicken I've had in decades.  Picture later when cooked with roast potatoes.

And aside from sleeping when I was sure I was knitting and listening to an audiobook, I've been spinning, knitting, and, halfway up the first glove realized that I was into yarn chicken. 

That's a knitting expression,  meaning knitting on feverishly in the hope of finishing before the yarn runs out.

No hope, as you see, with only this much matching roving left. So I tried my go-to Goats Magosh and found she was sold out, help. 

Another search through various Etsy shops in search of something approximating the color of spinning roving I need. So many sites only have roving suitable for felting or needle felting, not for spinning.

I did find something likely, and it will be here in a couple of days, with luck. I also fell prey to some beautiful sari silk reclaimed fiber for spinning, in a marvellous golden, yellow range. A present for me. Pictures when the rovings arrive. 

This afternoon I order Misfits and hope for eggs and various other items which will let me stay home. I made another batch of mix brownies, for which eggs are vital, so my supply is low. 

And there's my favorite supper of pita bread filled with egg salad. Last night's had blue cheese crumbles and kale. I freeze kale solid in a bag, then thump the bag angrily with my fist, releasing my annoyance with everything, and reducing the kale to splinters just right for mixing raw into egg salad.

So that's where we are Chez Boud, so thankful not to lose power,  fallen trees not having fallen on any power lines. I'm wearing gloves in the house though, even to knit and spin,  aged digits easily chilled. I even wore them sleeping last night and slept well. Who knew? 

Also thankful that my investment people who usually only put tax forms online making me scan and print, underwent a change of structure last year. 

This year I got actual paper tax reports in the mail. This saves my having to buy a cartridge for the printer, not in my current budget, and that's a cause of joy in itself.

I always do my own taxes, even back when they were more complex, hanged if I'll pay someone to do what I can do by keeping calm and following the instructions wherever they lead, also known as a merry dance.

One year a tax accountant friend of Handsome Partner was worried that I might be missing out on valuable deductions and persuaded me to show him the returns for his advice.

Two days later he came back and said how the heck did you do this? You found things I'd have missed. After that he didn't worry, I guess. 

The clever part about taxes isn't filling out the forms, which takes patience and calm more than anything. It's planning ahead to avoid accidentally incurring charges and missing legal  tax-abating opportunities. 

But if all you do is take a bag of receipts and pay someone at tax time hundreds of dollars to fill out forms, you're missing the most important part. 

Most of us aren't in the income levels where we need tax advisers moving money, postponing and timing income, all that. So we may as well diy. 

No criticism of people who hate it so much they gladly hire someone else to do it, none at all, different strokes, different folks. 

Keep warm or cool as the case may be where you are. Happy day everyone, may all the good stuff arrive in the mail. Keep well

And take a look at these women hand carding fleece for spinning. Look at their unlikely location, too!